


Between here and gone

by whalebone



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Bonding, Drinking, Everybody Lives, F/F, Post-Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:56:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25283494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whalebone/pseuds/whalebone
Summary: After the defeat of the Empire, Cara is trying to decide what to do with her life.
Relationships: Jyn Erso/Cara Dune
Comments: 16
Kudos: 29
Collections: Little Black Dress Exchange 2020





	Between here and gone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SassySnowperson](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SassySnowperson/gifts).



Cara leaned back against the bulkhead and half-closed her eyes, taking in her surroundings. 

The ship was small, built for stealth over power: there was a cockpit, a hold, and four cramped berths. A rather rickety ladder led to the single gunner’s turret. Sitting opposite her, cleaning her blaster with quick, confident movements, was Sergeant Jyn Erso.

When Cara had volunteered for this mission— retrieving an Empire weapons cache, guarded by a holdout of Imperial soldiers— she had mostly been relieved that it wasn’t another kriffing _diplomatic envoy_. If you had asked her two years ago if she wanted the end of the war she would have said of course. Anything to wipe out the Empire, once and for all. Now, though, she found herself wishing for a bit more damn excitement in her life. Guarding politicians, repressing riots, policing civilians trying to deal with the upheaval of their lives… it wasn’t what she’d signed up for. Sometimes she longed for the days of being dropped into hostile territory with nothing but her wits and her fellow shocktroopers.

She couldn’t help but wonder if Jyn felt similarly. The woman was a legend: after being dragged from a Wobani prison camp, in mere days she had stormed at Alliance high command, inspired a rebellion within a rebellion, and retrieved the Death Star plans in a stolen ship. Cara had only just met her, but she thought Jyn was exactly the kind of person to chafe at endless politicking. 

Jyn looked up from her blaster and stared straight at Cara. “Yes?”

Cara settled herself more comfortably against the bulkhead - which wasn’t saying much - and crossed her legs at the ankle. “I was just thinking. You’re better company than the stuffy delegates I had on my last mission.”

Jyn huffed a laugh. “Can’t say that’s something I hear very often.” She shoved her blaster back into the holster at her hip, then drew her legs up to rest her elbows on her knees. The look she gave Cara was curious. 

“Really? Rogue One are some of the shining heroes of the Alliance.” It sounded more mocking than she intended.

Jyn’s laugh was louder that time. “That’s what they want people to think,” she said, grinning. “We’re nothing like that. Spies, assassins, criminals, traitors… I don’t think we were ever that shiny.”

Cara shrugged. “Maybe that’s what makes you better company.”

“Perhaps. So you’re not enjoying our days of peace, then?”

“I’m enjoying some of it. No stormtroopers everywhere. Hunting down the odd power-hungry warlord. No more blockades, so the food’s better… I shouldn’t complain.”

“Hm. Not what you signed on for, then?”

“I signed on to fight Imps. There’s not so much of that left, these days.”

“No,” Jyn agreed. She was still watching Cara with sharp eyes. “Would you go home?”

It shouldn’t still sting. It did. Cara considered avoiding the question. “I’m from Alderaan.” She looked away, not wanting to see pity on Jyn’s face.

“Shit,” said Jyn. “I’m sorry.” 

“Yeah, well. What’s done is done. At least you made sure it wasn’t _more_ than Alderaan.” 

Jyn pressed her lips together. Then she got to her feet and disappeared into her berth. Cara cursed herself; she didn’t want to talk about Alderaan, and Jyn obviously didn’t want to talk about the damn Death Star.

But Jyn returned moments later, holding a small bottle of amber liquid. She sat down beside Cara and unscrewed the cap. 

“Riosan mead,” she said, taking a swig and handing the bottle to Cara. “Fancy it?”

“How in the Galaxy did you get this?” Cara took the small bottle and swallowed. The soft, sweet liquid warmed her tongue and throat. 

Jyn grinned. “Bodhi. The man should consider a second career as a smuggler. He always knows where to get hold of things.”

“Hm.” Cara lifted the bottle in a small toast. “Well then. Thanks, Bodhi.”

It was pleasant, sitting with Jyn and drinking the mead. Cara found her mood lightening, and soon they were swapping stories of disastrous missions and dangerous encounters. Jyn’s life was a patchwork of criminality and survival, and Cara liked her more and more: she was a potent mixture of cynic and fighter. And she laughed at Cara’s filthier jokes.

At some point they removed themselves from the hold to Jyn’s berth. Cara finished her story about a fellow shocktrooper who had made the mistake of ingesting a rare flower that caused an unmanageable libido surge. She found that she liked seeing Jyn laugh, her large front teeth digging into her lip.

“So,” Jyn said when she’d finished laughing. “You’re not here for the politics, and you’ve cleaned up the Imps. What’re you going to do next?”

She shouldn’t say anything to Jyn Erso. She had the ear of Mon Mothma, and Leia Organa. It would be easy for her to report Cara for insubordination. 

Somehow, she didn’t think she had anything to worry about. “I’ve not decided,” she said, swirling the remaining mead around the small bottle. “Perhaps I’ll be a farmer, somewhere in the Outer Reaches. I could pull a plough.” Jyn snorted. “Or maybe I can be a pirate. Or a smuggler. Your pal Bodhi could come with me.”

“I’ll suggest it to him,” said Jyn. She slid a little further down the bed, until she was mostly lying down with her forearm over her face. They sat in silence a little longer. Cara couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt relaxed. She shouldn’t get used to it; they were less than a standard out from their destination.

“I think about leaving too,” Jyn said eventually.

“Yeah?”

“Yes. I was always on my own. Everyone I trusted fucked off, eventually. I keep waiting for it to happen again, and thinking I should just… go. Be ruthless about it, and leave them before they can leave me. At least it’d be on my terms. And I’m bored with all the kriffing politics.”

“Why don’t you?” 

Jyn shrugged and let her arm drop. Her expression was thoughtful. “I’ve been left enough. I can’t… do that, to them. Not to the Alliance, or the New Republic, or whatever the fuck we’re calling it now. To my team. I’ve been waiting for them to dump me for years, and they’ve not done it yet.”

Cara leaned over to set the bottle on the floor, and slid down the bed as well. It was too narrow for both of them to fit, really, no matter that Jyn was such a small woman. “I’ve never had anyone like that,” she admitted. “The other troops… you watch each other’s backs, out in the field. You trust each other, since you’ve not got any other choice. But it’s all just… duty. It sounds like you’ve got a good thing.”

“Yeah.” Jyn gave a rather strangled laugh. “Yeah, I have.” She turned onto her side, and her nose was suddenly inches from Cara’s. She smelled of mead and blaster oil. “I get it, though. About wanting to leave.”

Cara kissed her. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but she was glad when Jyn grinned against her mouth and kissed back, her teeth digging into Cara’s lower lip. Her lips were sticky with alcohol. She was stronger than she looked, Cara found, all wiry strength and sharp corners, and she gave a triumphant grin when she’d shoved Cara onto her back and straddled her. 

“If you wanted to leave all this,” Jyn said conversationally, dragging her shirt over her head to reveal a lean, pale torso, dotted with scars, “I’d cover for you. No one would need to know you’d gone.”

“That so?” Cara pushed herself into a sitting position and pulled Jyn into another kiss, skimming her hands down her back. Jyn shoved her own hands, smaller than Cara’s but just as rough, under Cara’s shirt. 

“Of course.” Jyn bit at Cara’s lower lip again and pulled back, her eyes bright and hard. “I’m not above a bit of rebellion, after all.”


End file.
